The union of the English, Irish and Scottish crowns in the person of James, self-styled king of Great Britain and Ireland, both facilitated and heralded a monumental shift in ‘English’ Crown policy. Since the Scottish Wars of Independence of the late thirteenth/early fourteenth century, successive English kings and queens had endeavoured to keep the Scots, … Read more
After the Nine Years’ War, pardons given to the Ulster Irish lords who had risen in revolt against the Crown suggest a power vacuum in the northern province and an impecunious state in no position to fill it. Attempts had been made to shire Ulster and impose English law from the 1580s, but following the … Read more
The very title of this beautiful monumental book reflects attitudes of different scholars regarding the story of Hugh O’Neill and Rory O’Donnell. Was it a departure, a logical planned stratagem that envisaged a comeback and victory ahead with Spanish help? That would have been the attitude of Micheline Kerney Walsh and Tomás Ó Fiaich, shining … Read more
The official denunciation of former Lord Deputy Perrot refers to his proposals to poison the Wicklow warlord Feagh McHugh O’Byrne. This, however, was a show trial, steeped in lies and propaganda. The assassination of troublesome Irish leaders made sound sense to English administrators in Ireland, not least because it was cheaper than waging expensive and … Read more
The early afternoon of Friday, 11 March 1597, was windy but dry in Dublin. The dryness of that springtime was a welcome relief from the succession of cold and wet seasons which had preceded it. At the Liffeyside along Wood Quay and Merchant’s Quay those who laboured at unloading the boats tied up at the … Read more